Number 28 • Autumn 2012

Class Notes

Please note: Individuals are listed in Class Notes according to the year of their most recent School of Management degree.

1950s

Philip L. Wiggle is retired as the managing partner of Wiggle & Co., CPAs. He currently serves as an adjunct business professor at Medaille College.

1960s

Burton Notarius '65, MBA '67, was honored as a community contributor by the Graycliff Conservancy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring and preserving the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Graycliff Estate as a publicly accessible landmark.

1970s

Jonathan A. Dandes '74 was named chair of the UNYTS Donate Life Foundation board. He is president of baseball operations at Buffalo's Coca-Cola Field.

Lemma W. Senbet, PhD '76, was co-director for the "Policy Roundtable on the Future of Financial Regulation" held prior to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. Senbet is the William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance and director of the Center for Financial Policy in the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Gregg R. Kam '85 was appointed vice president and CFO at The Newark Group, an international 100 percent recycled paper manufacturer and converter.

Andrew Romanowski '85 was installed as president of the Buffalo Niagara Builders Association. He is founder and president of Alliance Homes.

Jim Doucette '87 is a partner with Henry Rak Consulting Partners, which was recently acquired by McKinsey and Co.

Joanne Pilecki Hernandez '88, MBA '89, was named senior private client advisor for Wilmington Trust's Western New York market, and is responsible for leading the integration of the firm's family office services group and relations services for high net-worth individuals.

Douglas P. Sosnowski '89 was named principal at Brisbane Consulting Group LLC.

1990s

Michael F. Ickowski, MBA '90, was appointed to the Catholic Medical Partners board of directors.

David L. Askey '89, MBA '91, earned his CPA license in New York State. He is a senior business analyst with Delphi Thermal Systems.

Michael D. Bishara, MBA '95, was named vice president and general manager of TV Everywhere at Synacor Inc.

Robert Drago, MBA '95, was named CEO of Costanzo's Bakery Inc. in Buffalo.

John J. Koeppel '95 was honored in the 2012 edition of Chambers Global for excellence in "Investment Funds: Private Equity: Fund Formation." He is chair of the private equity and investment funds practice at Nixon Peabody LLP.

Louis R. Russo Jr. '95 retired in 2009.

Scott P. Socha, MBA '95, was named vice president-treasurer at Delaware North Cos.

John Mineo, EMBA '96, was appointed senior vice president, general counsel, at Independent Health.

David D. Spriegel, JD/MBA '96, was promoted to administrative vice president at M&T Bank.

Rene D. Logie '04 is the banquet sales manager at the Pacific Islands Club in Guam.

Ranjit Singh, MBA '04, served on an expert panel at the World Health Organization conference in Geneva in February. He was one of 30 experts who discussed patient safety in primary care. Singh is co-director of UB's Patient Safety Research Center and medical director at Cleve Hill Family Medicine. He also serves as an associate professor of family medicine in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Michael P. Mazur '05 was promoted to manager at The Bonadio Group.

Danielle Robertson '05 received the Certified Financial Planner certification. She is a financial representative for Benefit Concepts Ltd.

Alumni Spotlight: Andrew Rosengard '79

Intellivent Group is a food marketing company specializing in product development, brand enhancement, loyalty and retention programs. Working with top food service organizations, consumer package goods companies, chefs and restaurants, Intellivent was responsible for the business plan for Magnolia Bakery and was the in-house marketing arm for Schwann's Home Service.

The Kitchen NYC is a premiere full-service, state-of-the-art kitchen studio, production and event space in midtown Manhattan. The studio has hosted 40 of the world's most famous chefs; food product launches including Ben & Jerry's Greek Frozen Yogurt, Uncle Ben's Beginners and Wolfgang Puck's Sauce Line; corporate events for Time Warner Cable and Estee Lauder; team building for Voss; high-roller events for Wynn Resorts; and photo and video shoots for AOL, Inside Edition, Food Network and The New York Times.

FoodPop is a Beta social network site for food aficionados dubbed "Facebook for Foodies" by the editor of Saveur Magazine.

Rosengard remains CEO of Rosengard & Associates Inc., a media, telecommunications and sports industry advisory and consulting company. He serves on the School of Management's Dean's Advisory Council, the Board of Directors of CPX Interactive and is on the Advisory Board of Torch Films. He previously served on the Board of Directors of NeoMagic Corp.

Alumni Spotlight: Kim Marie Krug '93

Skoog and Krug

After a career working in health care, Kim Marie Krug '93 decided to take a chance and pursue her passion. In 2009, she opened Monkey See, Monkey Do.Children's Bookstore in Clarence, New York, with her mother and business partner, Kathleen Skoog.

Krug's leap of faith has paid off, as Monkey See, Monkey Do recently won a Pannell Award from the Women's National Book Association as best children's specialty store.

Monkey See, Monkey Do was singled out for its innovative approaches to getting kids engaged with reading, such as its book clubs, craft programs, birthday parties and school break and summer camps.

"Our motto is 'Bringing Books to Life,'" Krug says. "Word of mouth is spreading about our store and we're feeling really good about where we're at."

Krug says her experience at the UB School of Management has made a huge difference in the success of her business.

"It's one thing to have a passion for what you're doing, but in order to be successful, you need a good, solid business foundation," she says. "The classes I took in the School of Management-marketing, accounting, human resources-help me every day with the nuts and bolts of running the business."